Zain Verjee (born February 11, 1974) is a Kenyan journalist. She is a former CNN anchor and correspondent, and now works in public relations. Her communications firm, Zain Verjee Group, has worked with Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Equity Group Foundation of Kenya, World Health Organization, The MiSK Foundation, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on their public relations.
Verjee is also a startup founder and content creator, co-founding aKoma Media, a continental network of workspaces for Africa's creative and cultural economy, in 2015. Her other ventures include Amplify, a content creator fellowship with participants from East/West Africa and the US, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation.
Verjee lives in the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
area and
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
. She spent 14 years at CNN as an anchor and correspondent, living in Atlanta, Washington DC and London. Prior to leaving CNN in April 2014, Verjee was the anchor of
CNN International
CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...
's European daytime program ''World One''. She worked as a newsreader for
The Situation Room, as a State Department correspondent, and as a co-anchor of CNN International's ''
Your World Today
''Your World Today'' is a daily international news magazine, news-magazine television program, television series that airs on CNN International, a sister United States cable news, cable-news channel to CNN. The show serves as a morning breakfast ...
'' with
Jim Clancy.
Education
Verjee went to
Hillcrest Prep School and Hillcrest Secondary School in Nairobi and later received her undergraduate degree in English from
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in